5 On-Demand Fueling Services to Know
By Samantha Oller on Jun. 13, 2016OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. -- On-demand fueling services are popping up faster than you can download an app or send a text. While California is the stomping ground for many, some of the latest are bringing fuel to customers in the Miami, Atlanta, Dallas and Nashville, Tenn., markets. Here’s a rundown of some of the newest and most noteworthy providers.
Neighborhood Fuel
"Never pump gas again," it says on Miami-based Neighborhood Fuel's website. The service fills up everything from cars to boats to jet skis in South Florida. It is unique among on-demand fueling services in that it does not use an app to manage orders, but rather text message. To order a fill-up, customers register at the Neighborhood Fuel site and pick a desired day and time. A text will arrive showing the week’s prices for regular and premium. The customer texts back “FUEL ME,” leaves his or her vehicle’s gas door open and the service takes it from there.
Gas Ninjas
Roving the Miami area since January, Gas Ninjas buys its fuel direct from wholesale, which helps it keep prices competitive. To determine its pricing, the service averages the prices for top-tier gasoline at the five nearest gas stations to the customer. Gas Ninjas provides free overnight delivery after 11 p.m. For $5 extra, it will fuel up your vehicle within an hour.
WeFuel
Launching this January, WeFuel, whose tagline is “Gas, Unstationed,” covers the San Francisco-area suburbs of Mountain View, Menlo Park, Palo Alto and Los Altos. It charges the average price for a customer’s ZIP code, $7.49 for delivery. According to Forbes, an unlimited delivery subscription model for $19.99 per month is in the works, and a device that will enable WeFuel to monitor customers’ fuel levels.
Booster Fuels
With operations in the Silicon Valley and North Texas, Seattle-based Booster Fuels recently raised $9 million to expand in the San Francisco Bay Area and eventually into the Pacific Northwest. The service has a corporate focus, providing fill-ups at “dozens” of businesses. According to Booster Fuels, many of these clients say more than half of their employees no longer use gas stations for fill-ups.
Yoshi
While Yoshi launched in the Silicon Valley and Atlanta, it is testing on-demand fueling in the Nashville, Tenn., market to test how it will play outside the West Coast. To build density, the company is increasingly focusing on corporate clients. Users can pay for fill-ups à la carte or pay a $15 membership fee for a large discount on gasoline (corporate clients often cover the fee for employees). Yoshi also offers tire-care and car-wash services.